With Solar World AG now stating that it is on solid financial footing, could the solar industry be showing signs of normalizing?
To say that the European solar manufacturing industry has suffered
some setbacks over the past few years would be an understatement. A
glut of Chinese-made panels flooded the market in 2010, driving solar
module prices to record lows and driving dozens of European and North
American solar PV manufacturers out of business.A trade war between the U.S. and China and then the EU and China
ensued with SolarWorld, a leading European crystalline PV module
manufacturer, spearheading the cause. Despite all of its efforts,
however, last year SolarWorld AG announced that it was having financial difficulties and would be restructuring its operations.
Today, however, the outlook for that same European solar manufacturer
is much brighter. Last month SolarWorld AG, announced that it was on
solid financial footing after completing a financial restructuring.
SolarWorld said that it expects to see higher sales this year and a
return to operating profit in 2015. The company also announced that it
is targeting a sales goal of EU €1 Billion by 2016.
In addition, today SolarWorld AG announced that it has completed its acquisition of Bosch Solar Energy’s cell and module production facility in Arnstadt, Germany. Together with its own module manufacturing unit, SolarWorld will now be the first facility in the EU capable of producing more than 1 GW of PV modules annually. This will make the company the largest manufacturer of solar power technology outside of Asia. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Frank Asbeck, the CEO of SolarWorld AG believes that the move means that his company now “offers a counterpoint to solar manufacturing in China,” he said in a statement.
By merging the resources of SolarWorld and Bosch Solar Energy, the company said that it plans to make a foray into the production of high-efficiency modules in the 300-W plus power category. Packing more power conversion capability onto the same-sized module would lead to a 20 percent boost in module efficiency, it said. SolarWorld already uses PERC cell technology to improve solar yields and will deploy this technology in Arnstadt, as well.
According to Bosch and SolarWorld, about 800 Bosch employees will keep their jobs but will now be employed by SolarWorld AG. Further, Bosch said that another 250 will continue to work at the site as part of a “service organization and trading company.” In total, 1,000 of the currently 1,400 jobs at the Arnstadt location have been preserved.
“We have achieved our goal of selling parts of the operation and relocating an alternative Bosch business, and in this way of offering jobs to as many associates as possible,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
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In addition, today SolarWorld AG announced that it has completed its acquisition of Bosch Solar Energy’s cell and module production facility in Arnstadt, Germany. Together with its own module manufacturing unit, SolarWorld will now be the first facility in the EU capable of producing more than 1 GW of PV modules annually. This will make the company the largest manufacturer of solar power technology outside of Asia. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Frank Asbeck, the CEO of SolarWorld AG believes that the move means that his company now “offers a counterpoint to solar manufacturing in China,” he said in a statement.
By merging the resources of SolarWorld and Bosch Solar Energy, the company said that it plans to make a foray into the production of high-efficiency modules in the 300-W plus power category. Packing more power conversion capability onto the same-sized module would lead to a 20 percent boost in module efficiency, it said. SolarWorld already uses PERC cell technology to improve solar yields and will deploy this technology in Arnstadt, as well.
According to Bosch and SolarWorld, about 800 Bosch employees will keep their jobs but will now be employed by SolarWorld AG. Further, Bosch said that another 250 will continue to work at the site as part of a “service organization and trading company.” In total, 1,000 of the currently 1,400 jobs at the Arnstadt location have been preserved.
“We have achieved our goal of selling parts of the operation and relocating an alternative Bosch business, and in this way of offering jobs to as many associates as possible,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH.
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